Earlier this month, General Motors unveiled the new 2024 Chevy Equinox EV in conjunction with the 2022 Consumer Electronics Show, giving us a preview of an all-new, all-electric crossover for the Bow Tie brand. The new Equinox EV looks good, but the question is this – will it outright replace the current Chevy Bolt EV and Bolt EUV?
To explain, let’s start with the basics. Under that sharp new exterior design, the 2024 Chevy Equinox EV rides atop the automaker’s new BEV3 platform, utilizing the latest in General Motors’ Ultium battery and Ultium drive motor technology. And although the Chevy Bolt EV and Bolt EUV both incorporate GM’s Ultium tech, both also ride on the older BEV2 platform.
Speaking of GM Ultium technology, the upcoming 2024 Chevy Equinox is expected to offer more range than the two Bolts, with at least 300 miles between plugs when equipped with the smallest available battery option. By contrast, the Chevy Bolt EV and Bolt EUV offer a maximum rating of 259 miles and 247 miles, respectively.
Sizing may also be a point of departure. Although official dimensions have yet to be released, it’s possible the 2024 Chevy Equinox EV will offer more interior room and cargo room than the two Bolt models.
Pricing is also worth mentioning here. Scheduled to arrive in 2023 for the 2024 model year, the Equinox EV will start around $30,000. By comparison, the 2022 Chevy Bolt EV starts at $32,495 including Destination Freight Charge, while the Bolt EUV starts at $34,495.
Finally, there’s the extensive and ongoing recall for defects in the Chevy Bolt EV and EUV’s battery pack, defects which have been blamed for about a dozen fires, and have resulted in Bolt production coming to a halt since August.
Put it all together, and the 2024 Chevy Equinox EV looks like it could be a solid replacement for the Bolt EV and Bolt EUV.
That said, we want to know – which would you actually buy? The upcoming 2024 Chevy Equinox EV, or the Chevy Bolt EV / Bolt EUV? Let us know by voting in the poll below, and make sure to subscribe to GM Authority for more Chevy Equinox news, Chevy Bolt news, General Motors electric vehicle news, and around-the-clock GM news coverage.
Comments
Provided no fires destroy it, GM looks to have a real winner with the Equinox EV.
I assume GM will keep the Bolt line or rename it Trax since that’s the segment it sits in. The Equinox is a segment larger.
Bolt needs to end because it’s built on an outdated and uncompetitive architecture that keeps getting recalls. Not worth keeping the line tooled for only two bargin EV’s. A new Trax can more efficiently be built on a BEV 3 line that produces multiple vehicles for every GM brand.
EV Nox looks like a more sculptured Encore and could fit into the Buick China line up easily. Remember Volt was tweaked and sold as a Buick in the Middle Kingdom.
Stay in bolt it is made in uss
equinox is just to big
the size of Bolt perfect
my Ego does not require a large vechicle
I’ve got a Bolt as my daily driver and really like it. One of my favorite things is its small car maneuverability – short turning radius, good steering response, ability to zip in and out of pockets of space in dense traffic.
Prior to the Bolt, I had a lease on a Spark EV and that was a hell of a fun car. Less refined than the Bolt, but no less fun to drive and as or even more zippy than the Bolt.
What I’m getting at is this – there should be a Chevrolet EV that prioritizes affordability and fun to drive with a focus on metropolitan/regional use. Do not worry about lacking long range capability beyond 250 miles. Let the larger Equinox EV take care of that customer requirement.
As to whether the entry level EV should be named ‘Bolt’, perhaps not. The Bolt is only a handful of years old and while it might have been becoming a well respected and desired car over time, the battery issue might have short-circuited (no pun intended) its path forward.
StuartH: Well said. I totally agree with everything you said. I have not owned a Bolt, but I did lease a Spark EV in 2915 and loved every second of it. So much fun and it was must more refined than the gas Spark (I owned one of those as well). But overall, just a fantastic car to commute in and zip in/out of traffic. Getting too big would take that huge advantage away.
Wow Dan you are from the future what was 2915 like? Do we have flying cars then?
Haha. Thanks Kenny. Now back to reality for me. The year was supposed to be 2015, but my fingers were not cooperating.
Your secret is safe with me Dan I promise 🖖🖖🖖 I’ll tell you what if you give me the winning power all numbers I promise I’ll buy everyone on here a C8 Z06 😁
lol Sounds good.
I want mine in the Sebring orange color.
Nothing fundamentally changed thanks to people going back and forth between two proven worthless parties.
I love my 2020 Bolt for all reasons you mentioned! Yes, GM does need to make more cars this size for city driving, parking. Having a big front end on an EV is pointless. Makes slipping into traffic & parking more challenging.
What kind of reporting is this?? the Bolt EV and EUV do not use GM’s Ultium Tech!!! It used their older Battery tech.
It uses a LQ Chem battery…..which was the problem for the fires and is why LG paid for the entire recall
What a poorly written article
The base Bolt is probably gone because of the recall, the equity in the Equinox name would move plenty of vehicles.
You guys beat me to it on several fronts: the Bolt is not an Ultium car thankfully (as that would have ruined these cars reps already even though the car was in reality a good car) and the fact that I think the Bolt is gone as a name at GM. Unfortunately GM has never been able to keep a small car name around for more than a couple generations. That, and the fact that small car sales have never been much in the US. And please do not name any successor very similarly to another car in the lineup (Volt vs Bolt).
Echoing others here but as a Bolt owner I can confirm it does in fact have the standard lithium-ion battery, not the Ultium. It does however write on the bev2 platform as the article states. Hard to believe a website calling itself GM authority would get something this important dead wrong.
The Bolt came out in 2017 so by 2023 or 24, whenever the Equinox EV comes out, the Bolt will have been in service for 6 or 7 years, near time to retire it anyway.
So yes, I see this as a replacement for the Bolt, which is actually an amazing car. Mine is my daily driver and I love it, I’ve never driven anything like it. I have 20k miles on mine and I still look forward to driving it.
Question do these batteries degrade over time after being charged? If they do is there a number of chargers you reach before it starts to degrade? I know with my phone apple has said 500 charges before any kind of battery degrading starts.
1,500 to 3,000 Full charge cycles before significant degradation occurs. The Batteries should be fine up to 300,000-400,000 miles.
you lose maybe 1% a year in compacity if driving a lot.
How about cold weather conditions? Or atypical charging patterns?
Oh wow that’s not bad at all. Is there any benefit to maybe not charging to 100% each time?
Yes, not charging to 100% means less wear on the battery. If you aren’t traveling far it’s best to charge up to 80-85% of the battery.
Thanks for this info. I was mistaken for some reason I thought the battery degraded a lot quicker then that but those numbers are great. I will strongly consider buying an ev when I’m ready to get my next car, hopefully in 2-3 years.
@ Nebula1701
Do you have an ev? What are your charging patterns like? Do you often just charge to 80-85% then stop it? Also is there a way to monitor it from say something like your phone if you are at home charging it? And do you know if it’s possible to turn a setting on that says only charge to 80-85%?
I have a Volt, but I’ve researched the Bolt.
For Volts we live by ABC (Always Be Charging.) Best to have the Vehicle plugged in when possible so mains keep the battery healthy in temps and balancing.
Bolts would best to do that too, and in the Bolt there is a setting in the Charging menu that lets you choose it’s max charge limit to anything you like.
You can also set Charging Schedule and your home location.
You can also monitor the Charging Status in the MyChevy app.
The fact you can control how much you want it to charge to is a huge + for me actually that’s one of the most important selling points for me in general. Let me ask you something about what you were saying above with the battery degrading, if you use what they call the fast chargers will they make it degrade quicker? How much would you say it has increased your home electric bill?
The enemy of Batteries is Heat, Fast Chargers can stress the batteries and you don’t want to exclusively use them if you don’ have to.
There are more qualified EV Channels on youtube that can give you the ins and outs of Charging especially DC Fast Charging than me.
However, I will say the Batteries with good Active Cooling and newer battery chemistries out now or coming out soon are far more tolerant to Fast Charging and may not have as much drawbacks for Battery life.
As for me and my Volt, the increase for my Electric bill has been about a $1 a day.
Thanks I’ll go check out YouTube and see what I can find. I think you are right though I believe over time the fast charging center I’ll get better where it makes less heat and becomes more efficient. For me it’s more of the convince factor with fast charging so it’s worth the quicker battery degrading for the faster charging, and I can always replace the battery if it ever gets to the point I feel like it’s lost to much of its health. Last question for you do you use IOS or android for the Chevy app? I’m an iOS user and was curious what the interface was like? Thanks again for all the help.
I’m iOS, the menus are basically the same for the App between Android and iOS
Check out the youtube site “News Coulomb”. The site host is Eric Way, who has a 2017 Chevy Bolt, bought new, which now has 150,000 miles on it, quite a few of those from long trips using DCFC, often getting down to the last couple % on his battery. In other words, he’s abused it pretty strongly, and his range is still over 200 miles depending on conditions.
Several of his videos track his battery degradation at various miles, others show his trips, while others are comments on the world of EVs.
He’s well informed on the subject.
I have a 2014 volt. I garage it so its not in cold or heat all year. I charge it to full every time I use it almost every day. I have 98k miles most of it driven mixed highway and back roads that are not highway not city. I have drained it to 0 many a times. The battery is rated 10.7kwh usable. Last time I checked it was about 10.2kwh. I have never babied it to charge just to 85% and so consider the battery degradation very good. It does bounce around a little up higher and rarely lower so far to that 10.2kwh. The temperatures in mid NYS have gone of course from the high 90s to the 0s but remember I am garaged and not left outside over nights. I expect the newer Ultium Battery setup to do better. I am good with this aging process. And GM knows this because though the ON STAR program ended they still track your car UNLESS you tell them by a phone call to STOP tracking your car. So I expect they have been collecting information for a while and probably when you go in for service and if they hook it up to the ODBII thingy. Just my opinion and reading on that last point.
I drive a 2019 Bolt . The dcfc profile is pathetic. It get really angry whenever I try to charge on a level 3 charger. Chevy engineers really need to get their act together. Back g competition coming from ultra fast charging Hyundai and Kia.
What do you mean, the Bolt dcfc is pathetic?
Didn’t you read the news article saying it was Ultium-based, which is supposed to charge at a competitively fast rate?
(Sometimes I wonder why I even read this “news”)
Hyundai and Kia are clearly making better EV’s than GM. Well, just about every carmaker is producing better EVs than GM.
Why Mary Barra is still the head of GM is a mystery to me.
Maybe she’s in charge because GM actually has a plan to go electric and is implementing that plan. Ford does have the Mach-e on the market and the coming F150 lighting but no easy way to actually scale either in the next few years because they didn’t plan.
Didn’t Kia have the same battery supplier and the same problems with their Kona EV as Chevy had with the Bolt? It didn’t make as much news since the Kona sold so much less. How are Hyundai and Kia “clearly” making better EV’s?
Chevy Bolt batteries were supplied by LG Chem, which is forking over the replacement costs to the tune of $2 billion. If you think GM can’t make good EV’s, take a look at Chevy Volt owners, they have some of the highest owner satisfaction rates out there. And the majority of Bolt owners love their cars as well. I’m looking forward to the Equinox EV myself, if they can deliver that car in the low 30’s riding on the Ultium platform, they’ll sell them as fast as they can make them.
I agree the Equinox looks good and I hope the range is at least 300 miles with 125kwh+ charge rate at DCs and it would be nice if for a little bit more one could pay extra to get 400 range but the first to points are most key. Charging becomes as important as battery size if not more depending on ones use of the car day to day. And actually the Blazer will be another good option and patiently waiting where that may fall in pricing.
Ford is NOW doing to the MME and the F150 what GM did 10 years ago for the Volt…use off the shelf parts versus a real strategy and is why I will not go from VOLT to BOLT/BOLT EUV but rather to the Ultium product line in hopes that keeping that car longer can get replaceable parts that will conntinue to work and fit and maybe even 2nd party parts like we have today. Yes I would spend thousands to replace my Ultium battery if the rest of the car is sound…sort of like changing your engine/transmission parts. I always laugh some don’t ever think what those electronic transmissions cost to replace ALONE now in cars god forbid if they crapped out….THOUSANDS alone!
I have a 2009 Chevy Equinox and I have been waiting for a hybrid or electric version for several years. Now that the electric version comes out in 2023 I will expect it to be better although smaller. In the first generation Equinox, you can fit inside 4 feet wide panels, and I have carried 10 feet lumber several times.
We owned an Equinox for several years. I did not enjoy driving it nearly as much as I do our 2022 Bolt EUV. The Bolt’s smaller size gives it handling and maneuverability the Equinox lacked. It also has better sight lines while, even with the mirrors carefully adjusted, the Equinox suffered, for me at least, from some “blind spots.”
What is GM’s distinction of a SUV and a CUV? I found an old image of the first BEV3 EVs:
Two “centroid” entries:
SUV Lux and SUV Compact (I guess Lyriq and Equinox)
Shared Autonomous Vehicle (Cruise Origin)
Light Comercial Vehicle (Brightdrop)
Low Roof Lux (Celestiq)
Efficient Low Roof car (?)
Large SUV 7p (?)
Large SUV Lux 7p (XT6-like)
Compact CUV (?)
Compact CUV Lux (XT4-like)
Small SUV (?)
Any ideas?
You have the Blazer EV and the Escalade EVs as well
Wished GM would have had choices …..why not some PHEV also? Not that many want a BEV only vehicle. Surely would have jumped on a PHEV Equinox. Of course, now you can’t find many of any new cars so you if you do, you pay up the nose. So if you’re interested in these cars, hopefully before fall of next year, the supply chain issues will be fixed,but I wouldn’t bet the farm on that.
I tried to get on the waiting list for a Saturn Vue PHEV which I saw at the NY Auto Show. Guess what happened.
The plug in hybrid is not efficient because the vehicle is carrying around two powertrains, two energy storage systems. The internal combustion engine also requires an exhaust system, evaporative system and his less efficient with more cold starts. The hybrid vehicle it’s more expensive to build and more expensive to maintain.
I agree. Snubbing hybrids will cost gm a lot of sales.
I would rather have pure EV and quick charging perfected…less parts less maintenance less things to go wrong though the volt has been good so far.
We leased a 2017 Bolt.
Loved it except for the driver seat.
We always arrived at our destination more relaxed than in other cars.
Now we have an eGolf and a Volt
I had the original Volt for 8 years and loved it. I traded in a Lexus GS 470 for it and still felt the quality of the Volt held it’s own. I wanted a bigger EV but the Bolt was too small. Keep the Equinox its’ current size and I will buy one. Bravo Chevrolet for making a better, larger EV.
Bolt EUV is the right size for around town commuting. Plus the handling make it a fun car to drive. The Equinox is too large ….
I have a 2018 Bolt. It’s a great car except for the front seat and of course the battery.
The equinox would be the right size for me. I will certainly give it a good looking over when it actually arrives.
GM has had awful luck with EVs. I have never heard of a production automobile (Bolt) being removed from the market for nearly six months!! Why would anyone buy a Bolt when they can have a relatively trouble-free Nissan Leaf. As usual for GM just about the entire competition has surpassed the Bolt.
If the Equinox comes out looking just like the one in the renderings, it has my approval to replace the Bolt.
Equinox is way to big for some…
I own a 2019 Bolt which is the smallest and most car like BEV you can buy in the US…
GM could update the Bolt since they already own the tooling for it which is a great cost reducer and update the batteries to LFP and a smaller range to drive down the cost…
GM could also use smaller wheels and tires to increase efficiency and drive down cost…
GM could also ditch the ridiculous 200 HP (which is very fun) to drive down costs but destroys the tires (not green) in FWD cars and is way more power than the chassis can handle as it can produce gobs of torque steer at times…
If GM and Ford and others do not produce and sell low costs BEVs (20k) in the US they are opening the door wide. rolling out the red carpet. sending out invitations, and pretty much begging the Chinese auto companies to come to the US and take the customers GM and Ford are too snooty for…
Ignoring the bottom end of the market is great for short term profits but abysmal in the long term…
GM and Ford have pretty much been reduced to Truck companies who can no longer compete with the Koreans or Japanese in the SUV (best sellers are all foreign) and the car market which they have both abandoned…
GM lost their best selling manufacture moniker to Toyota this year as did Ford losing their best selling brand moniker to Toyota also…
VWs CEO has already stated the Chinese auto companies have already matched the western auto makers in quality…
Matching in quality and destroying in price is bad and when the US companies fully abandon segments they are pretty much retreating and throwing up the white flag…
GM please keep the Bolt and do the blatantly obvious steps to reduce cost and keep small US vehicles…
Some of your design choices for the Bolt that drive up costs for a city commuter car are beyond my comprehension…
Want more info on the Blazer EV!!
If the Equinox offers a dual motor AWD version to compete with the Subaru Soltera etc., I see it as an additional line of EVs and the Bolts sticking around for a while.
Hopefully they can bring production stateside! Would definitely add volume.
Give me the Equinox at 30k with 300 miles and offer a 400+ mile range for a few grand more. I like the look and such. Size is about right for my needs especially if slightly bigger than the BOLT SUV. I will get the silverado eventually too. BUT what part of the BEV 2 Bolt uses Ultimum technology as the articles states?
BEV2 doesn’t use Ultium anything. I think who ever wrote this article forgot that fact. It’s a completely different Battery design and Chemistry for BEV2 VS BEV3.
I’ve had a Bolt EUV on order since June 2021. It was built in August. No clue when I’ll get it, if ever. I’m guessing by the time it’s actually available, it’s going to be nearly a year old after sitting in a lot somewhere waiting for a new, defect-free battery. With that said, now that the Blazer/Equinox EV’s are announced, I have a hard time believing the EUV I ordered will ever actually be available for delivery. It also doesn’t seem like it would make sense to go forward with its purchase. ESPECIALLY not for full MSRP like they were selling for before. I don’t see how GM is going to continue selling the Bolt/EUV unless they knock $10,000+ off the price… They’re basically obsolete at this point.
We have a 2020 Bolt and it is as much fun to drive as any around town small car I have ever experienced..
Apparently there have been significant battery fires… and yet the burn rate of several gasoline car models is SIGNIFICANTLY higher…. and they continue to sell well.
Incidentally, we own recreation property in a large ski area. (90 minutes uphill drive) It has been really really cold at times this winter. Battery performance is degraded slightly…. surprisingly little as we run heaters at max without regard to any efficiency aspects. Commuting between city and ski area? Requires a (very) little planning. Mass for size ratio make this an awesome performer in heavy snow. (You did buy good snow tires on good winter alloy rims, right?)
I do like the small size… we already own a large van for the other jobs. It is inefficient perhaps, but effective.
As a lessee, as long as Equinox has same length and width As Bolt LT (not SUV), it will fit in my garage. Otherwise have to go with Bolt in spite of battery platform.
I’ve owned both Volt generations (loved it!) and I’ve bought my first Bolt in 2019 and bought the second one last year (just couldn’t refuse massive GM rebates). Just to paint the full picture my wife made me buy her a blue one last year too. That being said I absolutely love my electric commuter. Range is better than adequate for NYC driving and I don’t see myself replacing it anytime soon! I drive anywhere from 50-100 miles daily in NYC traffic and I charge it daily at my house too. Never had a problem with any of my previous 4 electric GM cars in the past 10 years.
I’m sure GM will discontinue both Bolts due to their reputation of recalls due to fire in their history. And I’m sure GM will replace them with a different sub-compact crossover that can get 300+ mile and a price below the $30,000 threshold.
Wow, that new Equinox EV looks absolutely gorgeous! And with a base range of 300 miles at $30,000 it will definitely be a popular SUV EV. I will definitely buy one once they become available to order. The GM has been promising lately, I don’t anticipate this being widely available until late 2023. The look of it is truly beautiful. Hopefully the real one will look close to it.
The EV version of the Trailblazer will replace the Bolt EUV as they are the same size.
In my opinion the Bolt (especially) and the Bolt EUV should go away. Not many people will be willing to drive an EV that Fast Charges soooooooo slowly with tech that behind the times when it came out let alone now. Some might be ok with the Bolt but most will not. If anything, keep the Bolt EUV and just call it the Bolt and make it like $19,999 and see what happens. Keep it to only Two Trim Levels. Cloth with no Super Cruise and leatherette with Super Cruise.
Totally agree with SturatH comments. I have a 2020 Bolt and what surprised me the most was the “drive ability” of the car. If the Equinox EV is anywhere near the current size of the gas version it wouldn’t be a good to drive in traffic.
Don’t care what you name it just make it like the current Bolt. Improvements in things like a better ride quality would be most welcome.
Hopeful length and width of Equinox EV witl be same as Bolt EV. Fits solid in my garage with trash containers and bicycles, I will probably lease another Bolt when STOP sales order is release till Equinox is released and then lease that model till proven reliable and dependable. Important is will e-vehicle fit in my garage. Does anyone have comparison of length and width of both models?
The dimensions of the ICE Equinox are 183″ L x 73″ W x 65″ H, it will likely be similar to these if a bit shorter as they don’t need as long a nose for an engine.
It wouldn’t break my heart if it a tad longer than the Bolt. My 2020 Bolt is nearly perfect for commuting, but I have to admit it can get a little bouncy at times on the highway.
It wouldn’t make any sense to make the new Equinox the same size as the Bolt. Especially since there’s already the Bolt. Part of the reason the Bolt doesn’t sell as well as it could, is because of its size. In an ideal world, GM would make a trailblazer (or slightly smaller) variant to replace the Bolt with its now tainted name, then the Equinox would be a step larger than that, where it is today, then the Blazer would be a bit larger from there.
That would be for a Equinox EV hatchback or EUV those dimensions? I am sure Consumer Reports will give me dimensions when it comes on market. I could adjust a bit more in my garage hopefully.
I agree with the idea that the Bolt will die when the Equinox comes out, but I don’t think it will go before then.
Personally, I think the Bolt will be back when production resumes next month. True, all it may be for is fulfilling existing orders, but I think there’s a good argument for keeping the Bolt until the Equinox comes out. No other domestic is in that EV space right now.
As a 2019 Bolt owner in the middle of a buyback/swap, I am swapping into a Equinox. There was no option to order a Bolt EUV so into the much nicer Equinox I went.
I plan on trading that in on its EV version once it becomes available. It is so much better all around than either the Bolt or EUV. Bigger but not a monster sized SUV. It will have better battery tech and better overall tech.
I am happy to be putting my Bolt behind and wait for the Equinox EV as I use the ICE version in the interim. To me and many others, the Bolt brand is dead.
I look forward to getting the Equinox EV, and it will sell as a much better option over the Bolt offerings. I just hope the range and speed of its DC fast charge are much higher than the Bolts have.
Dennis: I’m thinking of a e-Equinox in a couple of years. I believe they will be released 2023. I already turned in my Bolt LT 2019 with a straight settlement offer on Lemon Law terms, not GM’s volunteer buyback terms. I like that e-Equinox has new Ultium platform. I might take a 27 month lease for a Bolt till that happens once the STOP sales/lease order is lifted. I just hope e-Equinox will fit in my garage like Bolt does.
BMW recalls over 917,000 vehicles due to engine fire risk
BMW documented 8 reports of fires since early 2019, unaware of any accidents or injuries related to the issue